


Interstices of Sleep and Waking

by lacrimalis



Series: Vessels of Void and Fire [5]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Lore - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26809792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lacrimalis/pseuds/lacrimalis
Summary: The Heart of Grimm may not know it, but when it arrived in Hallownest to answer the Knight's call, it had unwittingly returned to the place of its birth.And could there be a more auspicious occasion upon which to meet its maker?
Series: Vessels of Void and Fire [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1095792
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76





	Interstices of Sleep and Waking

Nightmare and dream once coexisted in a single realm, bringing balance to one another. It is said that one mark of consciousness is the ability to dream, and this is true enough; in this way the Radiance uplifted many bestial bugs and gave them the capacity for speech and thought.

In the height of her power the Radiance gave life to moths. From then her children naturally became her most devout worshipers, and the most innately attuned to the realm of the unconscious. Due to the circumstances of their birth, and the continued favor of the Radiance, moths enjoyed a sort of symbiosis with that intangible realm where she resided.

Moths grew to be respected as healers of the mind, interpreters of dreams, and philosophers of dozens of schools of thought. They flourished for generations until natural disaster drove them from their homeland. They traveled tirelessly in search of sanctuary, and eventually they reached the Kingdom of Hallownest by way of the Howling Cliffs.

But the Pale King forbade them entry.

He was wary of their power over dreams and nightmares, and the higher being they worshiped. He told them that if they left their nightmares behind, he would grant them safe haven from the storm in his luminous kingdom.

The moth tribe took shelter in a cave at the base of the Howling Cliffs as they debated the best course of action, but they could come to no agreement. The wind roared and shrieked as the moths huddled around their meager flame, and they beseeched the Radiance for guidance.

For the Radiance, who cherished her worshipers, the decision was simple. She agreed to cleave a part of her world from her domain to appease the Pale King, that he might shelter what remained of her followers.

And so the moth tribe followed her guidance to perform a ritual that would accomplish the task. They carved a dark lantern from the stone in that cave, and polished it to a glimmering shine. They lit the lantern and encircled its flickering light, and they fed it every dark, ominous, bloody, and portentous dream they could conjure.

When the deed was done, the Pale King was as good as his word, and he granted the moths refuge in his kingdom. What happened next could have been the fickle nature of mortal bugs, or the sheer strength of the Pale King's influence. In either case, the moth tribe's devotion and fealty was swayed to the side of the Pale King, while the Radiance was remembered only by the crumbling statues once hewn in her honor.

It is said the Radiance was outraged by this abandonment, and this was the reason she ravaged Hallownest with her infectious blight. But it cannot be denied that cleaving the nightmares from her realm irrevocably changed her. Who can say with certainty whether the infection was deliberate punishment, or a side effect of the realms' separation?

And beyond the Radiance's sight, without the custodianship of the moths, the realm of nightmares festered and sprawled, held captive by the light of the lantern.

The realm of dreams is and has always been self-sustaining, but for some reason, the realm of nightmares is not so. Perhaps the circumstances of its birth debilitated it, leaving it unable to survive on its own. It became a thing which requires sustenance. Something hungry. Predatory.

So it found subsistence in the dream ephemera left behind where tragedies transpire. And traveling across time, space, and thought, it wills itself where the yield shows promise and harvests its fetid crop.

Where once there was a single realm, unified as a repository of lived experience and shared ideas and connections, there now were two: cloven along arbitrary lines of morality, propriety, and personal comfort, informed by an edict of prejudice.

The Radiance: a blinding, cauterizing, maddening light.

The Heart of Grimm: a bloody, hungry, gnashing thing.

Returning for a moment to the symbiosis moths once enjoyed with the realm of the unconscious – is it any wonder they dwindled to near extinction, given the state of things?

* * *

The Knight listens quietly to the Seer's tale while the Grimmchild snores softly in their lap. They wonder if the child is having a dream or a nightmare.

"Though we were few then, not all of us wished to cede to the Pale King's demands, and some of my tribe remained behind. For all the good it did them."

The Knight recalls the red-robed corpse they found in the recesses of the Nightmare Lantern's cavern. They didn't think the unlucky bug had been a moth, but they supposed they couldn't be sure beneath the mask and hood.

The Seer's cloudy eyes peer with interest at the Grimmchild. "So this is the child of Grimm. Or the child who will _become_ Grimm."

The Knight tilts their head and stays the hand stroking the Grimmchild's back. They know the Seer is old and wise, but given the story she just told, the Knight cannot help but wonder how she recognizes the Grimmchild at all – not if the moths who worshiped nightmares remained behind at the Howling Cliffs, and the Grimm Troupe hasn't returned since.

She laughs softly, a dry and bright sound, like small stones rolling down an incline. "Dreams, nightmares – there isn't _really_ any difference. And now that they are both here, it is almost like they were never apart. My sight is clearer than ever." She breathes deeply, as if she is savoring the presence of dreams and nightmares. "You are curious about the Troupe Master, is that right?"

The Knight nods.

She closes her eyes and hums. "It is possible he was once a moth himself, ascended by fierce devotion to the nightmares we cast out. Or perhaps he is an emergent consciousness, manifested to fill the power vacuum left behind by the Radiance." The Seer sighs and opens her eyes. "It is strange… His origins are obscured to me, so I can only venture these possibilities."

The Knight bowed their head in thought. They hoped the Seer would have more answers for them, but perhaps that had been a misguided hope. Even after spending all this time with the Grimm Troupe and its spawn, the Knight still understood very little about them -- though the Seer's story had illuminated their origins.

"As the Wielder of the dream nail, it is fortunate that you have taken an interest in the Grimm Troupe's plight. Perhaps you can restore the balance we neglected so long ago. If you like. For now…" The Seer holds out her hand. "You have gathered quite a bit of dream essence. The time has come. The dream nail… And you as well, Wielder. It is time for you both to awaken."

The Knight forfeits the dream nail, and the Seer works her wonders on the talisman.

"No dream can hide itself from you now. You can peer into the darkest places… You just need to find the right crack."


End file.
